Autonomous defense budget rises 34.9%; AI and unmanned systems funding jumps 55.5% to 772.7 billion won

A KF-21 fighter jet fires flares during flight. [Air Force]
A KF-21 fighter jet fires flares during flight. [Air Force]

South Korea's proposed 2027 defense budget includes a sharp increase in funding aimed at building the military capabilities needed after the transfer of wartime operational control and strengthening the country's capacity for autonomous defense.

The Ministry of National Defense said Thursday that the budget allocated for "operational control transfer and autonomous defense" totals 12.17 trillion won ($8.89 billion), up 34.9 percent from this year's 9.02 trillion won.

"We will expand our autonomous defense capabilities to take full responsibility for national security on our own, and move early to secure the core capabilities needed to build a South Korean-led combined defense system after the transfer of operational control," the ministry said.

The autonomous defense budget includes funding to launch a nuclear-powered submarine program, begin initial and follow-on mass production of the domestically developed KF-21 fighter jet, accelerate deployment of the long-range surface-to-air missile system known as L-SAM, and produce unguided rockets for the Chunmoo multiple-launch rocket system.

Next year's defense budget reflects, for the first time, about 100 billion won earmarked to launch the nuclear-powered submarine program. Funding for KF-21 mass production also rises sharply, from 1.4 trillion won this year to 3.3 trillion won, covering both the initial production run planned for next year and a parallel start to follow-on production.

About 300 billion won has been set aside to accelerate procurement of the L-SAM, a centerpiece of South Korea's Korea Air and Missile Defense system. The government plans to move up the L-SAM deployment schedule by roughly one year to improve missile defense coverage for key facilities.

The budget also includes funding to secure a second production batch of unguided 230-millimeter rockets for the Chunmoo multiple-launch rocket system, a core asset for both the operational control transfer and counter-fire operations.

Defense spending on AI and manned-unmanned teaming systems rises 55.5 percent, from 496.8 billion won this year to 772.7 billion won next year. A new 43 billion won allocation has been set aside for pilot projects to introduce physical AI in areas with high potential for reducing troop requirements, including transportation, base perimeter security and hazardous materials handling.

Some 55.1 billion won will go toward building an integrated Defense Ministry platform to collect, manage and use defense data — a core asset for what the ministry calls "defense sovereign AI." An additional 36.6 billion won has been allocated to build out defense AI infrastructure, including GPUs, data storage environments, and AI development and operations servers.

The budget also establishes a new research and development program, backed by 56.5 billion won in investment, to secure core semiconductor technology and manufacturing capabilities for use in advanced weapons systems.


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